Staff and students at a Braintree academy are celebrating no longer being rated as “inadequate” by education watchdog Ofsted.

Inspectors visited Alec Hunter Academy, in Stubbs Lane, on March 18 and 19 and published a report on Monday to say that the school now “requires improvement” - a ranking above the “inadequate” rating received in 2012 as Alec Hunter Humanities College .

They observed 40 lessons and met with the headteacher and governing body before rating that the school required improvement in the leadership and management, behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching and achievement of pupils.

Headteacher Trevor Lawn said the report marked a step in the right direction and could pave the way for a “good” rating in the future.

He added that the rating proved “significant progress” had been made in the last three years and it would have been impossible to be judged as “good” now because of historical data.

He said: “It is clear that we still have some work to do to reach the level to which we aspire, yet it is satisfying to receive this approval of the strategies we have implemented thus far and recognition of the strides forward that we have made since converting to academy status.

“The report shows that we are moving very purposefully in the right direction and tackling the key areas which will impact on student success, so this is the best outcome we could have hoped for at this time."

See this week's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.